Josh Bartok Roshi

Josh Bartok (Jiun Roshi) is spiritual director of the Greater Boston Zen Center. He is a Dharma heir of James Ishmael Ford Roshi in both of Roshi Ford's lineages: the ordained Soto Zen lineage of Jiyu Kennett, and the koan introspection lineage of John Tarrant.

Additionally, Josh's Dharma teaching is influenced by the Zen teaching of Ezra Bayda and Shin (Pure Land) Buddhism as taught by Shinran Shonin, and interpreted by Tai and Mark Unno.

Josh is a full member of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association and the American Zen Teachers Association, and is a Friend (nonvoting member) of the Lay Zen Teachers Association. Josh has served on the Board of Directors for the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and on the planning committee of the first-ever Next-Generation Dharma Teachers event, part of the Mahasangha Gathering that took place at Garrison Institute in July of 2011. As senior editor at Wisdom Publications, Josh served as in-house staff editor for almost 250 books in all traditions of Buddhism.

In 2000, together with Rod Meade Sperry, he founded Spring Hill Zen in Somerville/Medford, and shortly after met James Ford, with whom he and several others help found the Zen Community of Boston, which later became Boundless Way Zen. Josh was the first president of the leadership council of ZCB/BoWZ. Josh terminated his relationship with Boundless Way Zen in 2018.

He is the co-author, with Ezra Bayda, of Saying Yes To Life (Even the Hard Parts), and the authoring editor of Daily Wisdom, More Daily Wisdom, Lama Zopa Rinpoche's How to Be Happy, and Lama Yeshe's When the Chocolate Runs Out.

Josh graduated from Vassar College in 1993 with a degree in Cognitive Science. While at Vassar, Josh began his Zen practice with John Daido Loori, at Zen Mountain Monastery, and then lived there for 18 months upon graduating--formally leaving the Mountains and Rivers Order in 2000.

Recreationally, Josh is an amateur photographer who shows locally and regionally. His work is influenced by John Daido Loori, Kaz Tanahashi, as well as sumi-e and abstract expressionist painters. His photos can be seen online at shobophoto.com.

Description: <b>Turning Toward:</b><br><b>White People Working to Dismantle White Supremacy</b><br><br><b>WHO WE ARE:</b> A group for white-identifying dharma practitioners to hold each other accountable and encourage each other in doing the inner and outer work of dismantling racism and acting in alliance with people of color in a white supremacist society. Attendees have read at least one of the following three books: So You Want to Talk About Race (Ijeoma Oluo), Awakening Together (Larry Yang), or Mindful of Race (Ruth King). Because of the relational and intimate nature of this group's work, attendees are asked to commit to attending 4 once-monthly sessions.<br><br><b>WHEN YOU CAN JOIN: </b>We open to new members 3 times throughout the year. Our next open session will be in October/November 2019.<br><br>Rebecca Behizadeh, Josh Levin, and Liz Roemer are available to talk to anyone who would like to know more about the group.<br><br> <br>*****<br><br>MORE BACKGROUND ABOUT THE GROUP:<br><br>For the past several years, GBZC’s Racial and Social Justice Initiative has sponsored many different activities and events (https://bostonzen.org/greater-boston-zen-center/racial-social-justice-initiative/). Some of these events were a series of book group discussions that involved examining the impact of systemic racism and discrimination in our lives and our communities. As several of us learned from these authors of color, we decided to follow their advice to create a space for those of us who identify as white to use our practice to examine and challenge our socialization so that we can more effectively wake up to the nature of racism and its impact, and act skillfully, with awareness, to counter it. We invite others who are interested in such work to join us as we continue this process in the upcoming 4 session monthly group.

Description: GBZC member Leilani Diaz invites persons of color (POCs) to join her in this new, monthly sitting group held on the third Monday, 7-8:30 pm. This is an opportunity to cultivate a diverse community rooted in inclusivity, justice, and compassion. No RSVP required. <a href="https://bostonzen.org/events/poc-group/">More</a&gt;